My Spyderco - Part 2

 

Spyderco  Part 2

C179 - Spy-DK

Many European countries and American cities prohibit knives that lock open.  As irrational as it is, the view claims a non-locking knife is less dangerous than a locking knife.  I don’t know.  It is hard to believe a stabbing or slashing wound is less serious if it is from a non-locking or slip joint. 

Spyderco  Spy-DK

The Spy-DK is based on the UK Penknife, with its blade length reduced to comply with Danish law.  The 68 mm flat grind blade is made from Böhler-Uddeholm’s premium N690Co stainless steel.  N690Co is similar to 440C but with increased levels of molybdenum and cobalt.  It has excellent resistance to corrosion, even in acid media, and high impact strength.  The downside seems to be a slightly reduced edge retention.

The Spy-DK has Spyderco's trademark round hole, but the hole is purposely small to prevent one-handed opening methods.  Following that theme, a powerful spring holds the blade firmly closed and precludes a one-handed opening.  Closing this knife is an adventure in injury as it requires significant force to close it.  This difficulty in closing may be why the knife was only manufactured from May 2014 to Nov 2016.

The Spy-DK’s handle is injection-molded fiberglass-reinforced-nylon (FRN) scales with fine square checkering.  Interestingly, the bottom of the blade’s choil is jimped to provide a friction surface to keep your index finger from sliding onto the sharp blade.  The form of the handle almost forces you to use that grip.  I don't like it; it makes me feel like I will slice my finger open.

The front of the tang is stamped Spyderco, N690CO, and the reverse is marked Maniago, Italy.  The back of the blade is marked with Sal Glesser’s trademark, a stylized SAL.

The question in my mind is, is the knife a winner?  As an American living in a relatively knife-restriction-free community, I would say no.  Still, that is not really a question for a collector.  Our question to you is, "Do you have one? 

C65BLP - Blue Lum

My first Spyderco Lum Chinese folder was green-handled, and I liked it so much I stopped carrying it and made it a safe queen. 

What’s a Lum Chinese folder? 

You really need to get out more.

Spyderco Lum Chinese Folder  You can see Bob's name and chop next to the thumb hole

Bob Lum was 3rd generation Chinese born in Astoria, Oregon, USA, in 1943.  As a keen fisherman and hunter, he honed ideas about knife design.  In 1976, Bob began making knives and took the world by store.  He worked with Spyderco, Benchmade, and Seki-Cut, as well as in the custom field.  He is credited with introducing the Tanto-style blade to America.  Bob passed in 2007.  His Spyderco Chinese folder is perhaps the loveliest knife I own.

The C65 Bob Lum Chinese folder’s blade is tapered like a broad, flat leaf made of VG-10 sporting Bob Lum’s Chop and last name.  VG-10 is a Japanese super-steel developed for the horticulture industry by Takefu.  It is a favorite of Japanese chefs. 

The leaf shape pays homage to Bob’s cultural background.  It has been around in China for centuries.  It’s a definite winner for general utility and hunting.  The lack of a guard limits its tactical value.

While I have a green one, I was fortunate to get a C65BLP.  That’s a blue Almite coated Chinese folder made in the early months of 2002.  It is reported that only 800 to 1000 were made.  Spyderco has a buyer’s club.  It’s limited to 999 members.  Here’s the inside: You must buy every new knife they produce that year, with no exceptions.  The blade comes stamped with your three-digit number.  What you do with your knife is your business.

My Lum came stamped with 071V.  The V signifies variation.  Several variations have been reported, and perhaps the rarest is a cranberry Almite prototype.  Does it actually exist?  I don’t know. 

SC01PS - SpyderCard

Perhaps the most intriguing Spyderco is the SC01, the SpyderCard.  Eduard Bradichansky designed only two knives for Spyderco.  One is part of their ethnic series, and the other is the SpyderCard.  You can read more about the Spydercard and Bradichansky at https://knifesearch.blogspot.com/2016/04/spyderco-spydercard.html.

SpyderCard -  Don't leave home without it

The Spydercard first came to my attention at the 2000 Shot Show.  The knife is a full-sized folding knife with similar dimensions to a credit card.  It is about the thickness of three credit cards, but does fit in your wallet.  I’ve always believed it was an attempt to hide a cutting tool in the wallet of potential hostages.  Considering Bradichansky death in a terrorist attack on the West Bank, Israel, it is not surprising his design tended in that direction.  I also think if he had not been killed, he would have refined and matured his design.

The SpyderCard came with a plane or a partial serration.  The blade is crafted from AUS-6.  I prefer the cutting power of serrations on a small blade like this.

AUS-6 is stainless steel by Aichi Steel Corp. similar to 440A.  You used to see this steel in the introduction of knife market models because it is easy to sharpen and has excellent corrosion resistance.

SpyderCard - Open with 50/50 blade

Mine is from 2002 and has what Spyderco called a 50/50 edge.  I think of it as partially serrated.  The hole in the handle isn't the Spyderco trademark, it's designed to give you access to the integral lock.

It’s a very cool and perhaps a bit impractical knife.  Make sure you don’t have it in your wallet if traveling by plane for two reasons.  One, it will literally make the TSA agent’s head explode, and two, you’ll lose an interesting knife.

C11ZFGYBLP - Delica Zome

Delica Zome Blue Gray

The last knife tonight is a sprint run.  It’s the C11ZFYBLP or, as I know it, the Delica Zome Blue Gray.  Knife Magazine published a delightful article about this knife in the July 2023 issue. 

Sprint run knives are a unique manufacturing lot of established knives with different steels, often with hard-to-work steels, handle materials, and colors.  In many respects, Spyderco is a small custom shop experimenting with novel steels, constructions, and processes.  From a selling point of view, Spyderco is a little like Case knife: you'll never collect a sample of all the variations.

Sprint runs are always in limited quantities and sell out quickly.  You usually must buy almost as soon as you see the advertisement.  There is quite a following for sprint runs.  The Zome has a laminated blade with SuperBlue steel sandwiched between two slabs of SUS410.

If you look careful, you can see the differential polishing line in the blade

A laminated steel blade was the answer the ancient knife makers discovered to an old problem.  High-quality steel was never abundant, and while it held an edge, it was brittle.  Softer steel (steel is a mixture of iron and carbon) was flexible and stood up to hard use but couldn't hold an edge.  But laminate the hard steel in a sandwich of soft, flexible steel, and you have a winner. 

The FRN handle is a blue-gray polymer which is hand-dyed to produce color splotches reminiscent of Japanese Ai Zome, a fabric coloration process.

Delicas are one of my favorite knives and the flat grind blades, like this one, have amazing cutting properties. 

 

 

Secrets of the Sorting Hat

 

I've moved, which forced me to confront my knife collection with the certainty that all good things end.  My previous dwelling had plentiful storage, but the new digs, well, not so much.  I’ll add cabinets, shelves, and drawers for storage, but I need to deal with limited storage and the need to put things away.

The move has also prompted a confrontation with my mortality.  Do I want to continue to curate knives I have for no apparent reason?  As much as I wish it, I do not have a Harry Potter sorting hat to make determinations for me.

I realized that all my possessions could be categorized into two distinct classes and a third, more nebulous one.  The first two are obviously "Keep" and "Discard.”  The third is “Maybe.”

Don't let this fool you.  There are only two options.  Maybe is actually a Discard.  If a knife doesn't create enough passion to become a Keep instantly, it's a Discard you're trying to be polite to.  Ditch it.

The original Tigersharp

Here’s a couple of examples.  I picked up a Tigersharp at the SHOT Show.  The company later sold the design to Camillus.  The novelty is the replacement blade eliminating the need to resharpen the knife; just use a new blade.  It's going.

Boot dagger from S&W

Years ago, at the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot, I bought a S&W H.R.T. dagger boot knife.  I am still trying to understand why.  The handle is too small, the blade is sharp on one side but not the other, and I don't typically wear the proper boots.  Bye-bye boot knife.

Boker's Pocket Knife by Mickey Yurco

I bought a knife from Boker, designed by Mickey Yurco, called the Pocket Knife.  Mickey told me he thinks of it as a self-defense tool, but Boker, fearful of public backlash (What!  You mean to tell me you could hurt someone with a knife?) calls it a camping or survival knife.  I wore this on my pack for years.  It's a keeper.

So, there you have it.  When you start thinking about that great collector's meeting in the sky and can't decide what knives need to find a new home, remember, Maybes are just polite Discards.  You really didn't care for them in the first place.

 

Pro-Tech Steam Punk

Every once and awhile, you come across hidden treasures.  Sometimes neither the buyer nor seller realizes how much that gem is worth. 

When you’re the seller you may never find out.  Smart buyers will not tell the seller he has made a foolish move.  They will not rub it in or humiliate the seller.  It’s enough to get a silent win. 

Then too, you don't know what they paid for the treasure; they could be laughing all the way to the bank.

I didn't gamble on this!

I recently bought a Pro-Tech Godson with Bruce Shaw’s Steam Punk motif in bright metal.

I really like the Godson.  For me, the size is Goldilocks, that is, just right.  The knife is easy to Google, try: https://www.bladehq.com/item--Protech-Godson-Steampunk-Automatic--67879

But all the websites I visited say they are out of stock.   They also say the knife they had was some number of 200.  Mine says 72 of 100.  What’s going on?

I called Pro-Tech and asked.  Here’s what they told me.  Pro-Tech makes a special run of 100 knives called prototypes, sold only at shows.  The regular limited edition has 200 members, making a total of 300 Steam Punk Godsons in existence.

My new Steam Punk claims to be a prototype 72 of 100 while my older copper one is from a run of 200 .  What is going on? 

Pro-Tech has no plans to make any more.  I don't know why.  Perhaps it was a limited edition, as the artist Bruce Shaw specified.  Bruce got his training at Cal-State University of Los Angeles.  Bruce is better known for his firearm engraving, but his Steam Punks are icey! 

When they were introduced in 2014, Blade Magazine listed them as "Investor/Collector Knife of the Year."  I don't know about the investor part of that claim, but it is very collectible.

I’ve always been cynical about knives as investments.  It’s counterintuitive, but many custom knife makers experience a drop in value when they die.  They are, after all, done.  There will be no new creative work to keep their name in the public eye.  As their collectors pass on and leave their collection to people who don't care, the custom maker becomes increasingly a closed chapter.

It doesn't always happen that way.   Randall Knife is one example of a knifemaker going strong after their death.  Bob Loveless is another.  The corporation with his name marches on.

Despite those two examples, I am reminded of the joke:  How do you make a small fortune by investing in knives?  Start with a large one. 

I'll share what I learned about stamp and coin collecting.  If you want your collection to have great value, put great value into it.

I also have the copper version of the Godson Steam Punk with a bright blade.  It is part of the regular limited run of 200, but I'm thrilled to have it.  I also assume there is a prototype run of 100 somewhere.

There might be more prototypes and limited run consisting of only bright of black blades.  I don't know.

I doubt I'll buy another Godson Steam Punk for my collection.  I'm not interested in having some unique number sequence or group of numbers.  But if the price is right, you could see it on my table.

Pilgrimage of Steel

  As much as I love knife companies, I admit they would not be my pilgrimage of the faithful.  I instead would bow down and face Smokey Mountain Knife Works.

 

You might consider it as well.  Right now SMKW estimates that 1.5 million pilgrims will make the journey this year.  There were two school buses in the parking lot when we arrived.

 

Walk in and you notice knives and more knives.  The doors are numbered and you’re reminded to note your entry.  That was a clue how big the place is.  You’ll find people buying $3 POS knives, but you’ll also find top shelf Benchmade, Case, SOG and all the rest.  Wander around and look at all the mounted animals, everywhere.  They were collected by one man who hunted every continent in the 50s and 60s.  The walls are lined with cases and displays of old knives and knife collectables.  These wasn’t a plan, it grew (as much as I hate the expression) organically.  The staff squeezed in a display here and there and then someone decided this display would look good near some other display.  And it just kept going.

We walked in door number 2 and found ....

One of many....

Esee fixed blades

Mr. Pipes started as a seller of arrowheads and civil war memorabilia and a friend suggested why don’t you try selling a few knives?  It didn’t take too long before the knives out sold the relics.  The original store wasn’t big enough, so they moved, then they added on and it’s still crowded.   But everything is laid out nicely and well labeled.

More collection



Shanks.  Who collects shanks?

 

But when you get there, make sure you see everything and then go down into the Relic Room.  Here you find fossils from China and the warm seas that covered Chicago.  You’ll find bullets from the revolutionary war as well as the civil war.  Oh, there is some crystal non-sense about spirit guide stone animals and how a stone with a certain shape will focus your attention and balance your chi.  But you’ll also find Russian coat buttons from the Cold War, binoculars from our western expansion, fired pistol cases from WWI among books listing the local men who enlisted in the Civil War.  How about a commemorative belt buckle from the first reunion of Teddy’s Rough Riders?  I don’t know if anyone knows all the treasures in that room.  I found an issue of Popular Science from March of my birth year.  Guess what the cover story was about?  How to convert your basement to a shelter for the anticipated atomic wars.

One of dozen or more selections of historic relics

The owner of the Relic Room, Chase, is a Pipes family member and is a prodigy for history, both natural and human.  He spoke to us of records and university archeology digs that confirm the existence of a Spanish rendezvous from the 1500s a couple 100 yards from where we stood.  I had no idea the Spanish were ever in this part of the country, but I heard him teach several children (and myself) that the Spanish court required a notary under the control of the Church to travel with their explorers.  Everyday the explorers would diary about the day and the entry would be notarized.  These extensive records are now matched to current digs which confirm the veracity of the findings.

 

Old, beyond my comprehension

 bought a chunk of the oldest original rock available on planet earth.  It’s Acasta Gneiss from the Hadean Age.  There’s still some of this rock showing on the Acasta River in Canada.  It doesn’t look like much.  It is 4.2 billon years old.  And I can touch it with my fingertips.

 

That’s beyond cool.

 

A Baker’s Dozen

My friend Aron was telling me he found a successful way of reducing the clutter he’s accumulated.  He asks one question of each item: Does this make me happy?  If the answer is no, it’s gone.  Here’s a bakers’ dozen of some of my favorite folding knives.  

In no particular order:

1:  Benchmade Griptilian  
It was a Christmas present from Karen and I’ve always liked the shape and feel of the Griptilian.  The 3.5 inch blades is 154CM steel and it sports what might be considered Benchmade’s most distinguishing feature, the Axis Lock.

2:  Twerp by Phil Booth
The sub-2 inch blade is anchored between steel liners with a moon glow plastic spacer.  Moon glow has quantum mechanical forbidden energy transitions.  I just love that.  Coming off the lanyard hole is a small noose, but unfortunately it is a 12 turn and not the traditional 13 turns of lynchings everywhere.

3:  Kershaw ET
It is one of the strangest knives I’ve seen or owned.  While the design is alien, ET really stands for External Toggle.  It was Knife Magazine’s 2005 winner for the “Most Innovative American Design.”  Also the scariest.  Opening the knife is not for the timid; if the blade doesn’t have sufficient momentum it will stall half-way open and close regardless of what you have in the way.  It came with a CD to show you how to open it.  Now that’s scary!

4:  Spyderco Citadel
It was first automatic knife from Spyderco I heard of.  In fact they often denied they made autos.  Sal didn’t like ‘em and the violence he associated with them.  They would make them when a government organization requested them, but as soon as the overrun was sold that was the end.  The Citadel sports a 3.25 inch blade of CPM S30V steel.  Sal is getting on in age and his son, Eric seems to be more involved with the company and more states are legalizing automatic knives, so we’ll see what happens.  I was assured at the last Blade Show (2017) their policy on autos would remain the same.  Like they would tell me.

5:  Buck Lighting II
I like the look of the mottled green aluminum handle and the ease of one hand opening. 

The 420HC steel blade is 3 inches long and despite the tip down carry, I bought a second in all tactical black.

6:  Blackjack’s Mamba
I bought this from the original Blackjack Company.  I don’t know what speaks to me, the 3 inch curved blade, the shapely handle or the cool-dagger-in-cards logo, but I had to have one.  Maybe its fixed blade big brother convinced me to buy the folder.  That’s a story for another time.

7:  Spyderco Delica
My first of many Delicas was a green plastic clip made in Seki City, Japan.  The blade doesn’t bear the Spyderco trademark.  The type of steel wasn’t stamped into the blade and remains an unknown. 

I was drawn to the ease of one handed opening, a clip to make it easy to find and of course the lock.  It was the beginning of the tactical blade movement and cops were picking up fast on Delicas and its big brother, Endura.  Pronounce it  ‘dee-leak-a’ and you’ll get a grin out of me every time.

8:  Schatt and Morgan
This is a red bone jigged slimline Trapper made by Queen.  It’s a non-locking folder, typically called a slip-joint.  The American history of slip joints is an incestualized weave of father, brothers and uncles, buying, selling and taking over names and designs.  Even today you’ll find company X making knives for company Y.  Raymond gave me this knife.  He wasn’t young when I met him and he used to come by my table and we would talk blades.  Later he’d sit behind the table catching his breath and regathering his stamina before finishing the show.  He died on a New Year’s day and now I have this knife to remember him by and that makes me smile.

9:  Gerber’s Paul Knife
Yeah, it’s not the original Paul Knife, but it’s still pretty damn cool.  Gerber was, (and still is) owned by FISKERS, an English company that apparently knew nothing about America or American knives.  The blade is a 2.5 inch-long piece of 400 series stainless.  I read it was originally designed for ranch hands who needed a folding knife that could open one-handed while riding a horse.

10:  Spyderco Howard Viele
There are few of us that don’t need a dress knife.  The Viele, with its elegant blade and lines fills that requirement for me.  It’s not a perfect knife; the opening hole is small and hard to access and it’s almost impossible to open left handed.   The blade is 3.5 inches of AUS-8 steel.  I’ve had it for over 20 years and it still reminds me of Connery’s Bond standing at a roulette wheel.  

11:  Benchmade Mini-DeJavoo
It’s a Bob Lum design sporting 3.25 inches of S30V steel inside steel lined scales of black, cloth micarta.  It is a liner lock and its good looks give it an everyman’s elegance.  It’s set-up for left hand carry and despite the fact it’s carried tip down, I use it for my left hand dress knife.

12:   Spyderco Chinese Folder
This Bob Lum designed knife has a special spot in my heart.  This was the knife I published my first article about.  It also had an early innovation, the clip was reversible so you could carry right side, tip up or down.  

The Chinese green curved handle makes the knife feel like an extension of my hand.  I liked it so much I bought a second one in a steely gray Spyderco calls blue.  I have these as my back-up formal wear knives.

Luckly number 13:  Gerber Multi-Plier 600
My Father left me many things, mostly memories, but I found a Gerber multi-plier and the belt case in his salt-water tackle box.  When I did community theatre in the 80s, the union stage hands were crazy for Gerber multi-tools.  You could depress the locking button with one hand and the tool would open.  This was invaluable when you were on an the last wrung of an A-frame extension ladder 35 feet in the air hanging on to a flood light with one hand and needing to loosen a bolt with the other.  It took me a while to erase the rust and oil it up, but it has straight and serrated blades as well as screwdrivers and the all-important coffee can and beer bottle openers.  Most importantly, it was my Dad’s.

Could I have found more knives? 

I have one with scales composed of clear epoxy resin filled with eggshells.  Eggshells are a semipermeable membrane made of calcium carbonate but not, I believe, the common calcite.  It’s a biological form called aragonite, a different crystal arrangement.  That is just too cool!

I have a fixed blade from a day long bonding trip with my new in-laws that I purchased to let them know I’m a little off center.

So yeah, I have other knives that make me smile.

Why Is A Penny Like A Knife?

I had hoped to shoot a Saturday evening match, but I started working on my father’s coin collection and lost track of time.  Most of his coins are from circulation so they have little collection value other than face value.  It was the excess coins that troubled me.

What’s a lot of pennies from 1949 to 1960 worth?  Let’s start off with the fact they are ‘wheat backs’ which are no longer minted.  Also understand they minted millions of each wheat penny each year.  Nobody knows if they will be worth anything for at least 150 years.  I base that on a large penny I have from 1848 in good condition that might be worth $3 bucks.   

Current pennies are a copper clad zinc coin, but these are solid copper.  I checked the selling price of copper, the weight of a penny and 158 pennies could earn you around 2 bucks.  I suspect many US metal recyclers will not want to handle pennies, afraid of laws about defacing US currency.  Factor in the cost of a trip to Canada where a US penny just is a disk of copper, and I suspect you need to take tons to come out ahead.

Many of the coins in circulation have features raised above the coin’s rim and are quickly eroded way along with their value.  Most Indian head nickels have lost their date and you might be able to sell such a worn coin for 8 to 10 cents.  It seems during the Depression, hobos would carve an Indian head nickel to resemble some other figure and would try to trade their handy work for a meal or shot of Ol’Red Eye.  So there is still a small market for the coin as artistic media.

So it goes with most coins in circulation, a dime without silver is worth 10 cents.  A Kennedy post 1964 half dollar might be worth a few cents more to a collector or someone who want to imitate George Raff flipping a coin.

The only real way to make money on most circulated coins, other than to spend ‘em is to sell them to other new collectors who can no longer find a 1941-S penny.  From my knife selling experience, forget ebay.  You could rent tables at coin, hobby, and flea markets, spending a lot of weekends to make peanuts.  You should prepare to spend years to sell circulated coins with a face value of $100.

So what does this have to do with knives?

Knife collectors are kind of in the same situation.  If your heirs aren’t interested in your collection, they will want to sell it.  So what’s a fair price?  There aren’t that many people willing to plunk down bucks for used Case knife.  If you have one from the 1930s, it may be valuable to the right person, but you’ve got to find that person.  Even custom and semi-custom knives go out of style and drop in price as the maker becomes more obscure.

Yes, there are exceptions.  Loveless, Randall and others are still in demand, partially because the organizations still exist and are still making knives.  Others aren’t so lucky.  Most factory made knives only drop in appreciation as newer design and more sophisticated steels are introduced. 

It is a nice little knife in its own right.  Does the blade engraving make it more valuable or less valuable?
I think more to me, less to everyone else.

As knife collectors we are told to list or provide documentation to our heirs to help them understand what we believe the knife is worth.  We are often guilty of over-evaluating our collection.  We would like to believe the club knife or special event knife should be worth more, especially if only a few were made and it’s old.  The same with knife lines no longer manufactured.  Scarcity and age do not determine price.  Price is determined by the transaction between seller and buyer.  And it can be different on any single day depending on who’s at the table and how much each wants to buy and sell.

So, do I have a solution to the coin and knife collector?  Of course I do!

It’s a two part solution.  The first is selling your collection yourself.  You enjoyed putting it together; now enjoy haggling and selling it.  You’ll make, lose or break even on the deal, but at least you’ll have fun doing it.  The second part is don’t worry about it.  Enjoy your collection while you can and let the heirs deal with it.  So what if the kids sell your custom made ivory handled Fairbairn-Sykes combat dagger for 50 bucks and threw in a sharpening stone. 

It isn’t like you can use the money, is it?

Collecting

The recent (Dec 2015) stabbing in London by some Other Dickless Asshole (ODA) will surely result in a call to de-fang the British citizenry even more.  There has already been a call by English doctors to eliminate pointy kitchen knives.  Even the presence of a Stanley utility knife in your work belt can land you in an English jail until you can explain to the judge’s satisfaction why you needed one.  I hope your employer feels like appearing in court to bolster your claims you have to cut up cardboard boxes as part of your job.

It’s hard to understand how anyone could think they can eliminate pointed knives.  Fleming’s James Bond pauses in “Dr. No” to sharpen a purloined dinner knife into a sharp point before escaping from his cell.  It just took a concrete surface and a little time.  This is a basic prison skill known to, unfortunately, millions.

Here in America we also have our share of ODAs and the incidents they create.  While the anti-knife people are present, so far they haven’t made too much of an impact.  Part of our protection is granted by the 2^nd Amendment.  This amendment isn’t only about guns, which aren’t mentioned.  It talks about arms, which can be guns, knives, spears, axes, clubs, canes, bow and arrow and other material objects.

But given the right circumstances an anti-knife backlash is possible.  One only has to recall The Woman’s Home Companion’s article about switch blade knives, “The Toy That Kills.”  Following movies and plays like “Rebel without a Cause” and “West Side Story” the media published stories about violent youths and changing sexual mores and conservative America demanded to be protected.  The politicians of that era responded by making Switchblades illegal.  How a switchblade is more deadlier than any locking knife or fixed blade was never explained. 

Politicians, fearful of exhausting their political power and prestige by addressing the real causes of crime, did/will scapegoat inanimate objects as a way of placating the voters.  That object could be your knife collection.  What’s a collector to do?

Pick up a copy of Knife Laws of the U.S. by attorney Evan Napper.  It’s worth $25 and a couple hours of your time.

One of his interesting ideas is to join a knife collecting club.  I suspect it would be better to join a physical one with meetings you can attend rather than an e-club.  Another valuable step is creating a listing, either spreadsheet or index cards with each knife entered, date obtained, value and written description.  This extra effort could help validate your claim that you are an active trader/purchaser and a “official knife collector” as well as make collecting more enjoyable.

One word of advice.  Use a ‘scientific’ description of your knife.  It is an early Vietnam era, serialized, survival knife by Gerber and not just Gerber seven-inch stabby thing.

Speaking of stabby things, did you know the classic KA-BAR fighting knife was made in Cleveland, among other places?  At the last knife gun show I ran into a fellow who told me how he built up stacked leather washer handles on KA-BARS working his way through college.  Since he was my age that ruled out WWII and Korea.  He indicated he had quite a few seconds at home, as a nick or chipped blade couldn’t be sold.

I don’t know if it’s a true story, but it would be interesting to see what he considers ‘quite a few.’

I just attended a local knife club meeting and one fellow denied he was a knife collector, but was rather a knife gatherer. That description fits me much better than collector. 

Knife Expo

I'm flogging WRCA's Warther Memorial Knife Expo pretty hard for a variety of reasons.

One: I liked Dale Warther.  I didn't know him as well as some club members did, but I was always happy to see him.

Two: It's a good knife show.  I'd like to see more custom builders, but we're working on that and have asked several new ones to attend.  This show will give collectors a chance to see some really great knives.

Three: A number of club members think the club will fall flat on it's collective face.  We've had trouble with the last couple of places and we are trying to find a permanent home.  Everything is expensive as compared to times when gasoline was a $1.25 a gallion.  This location is no exception.

The knife show will be May 16 and 17 at the Buckeye Expo center in Dalton, Ohio just off of route 30.  Admission is $5 per person but we'll wave the fee for scouts and military in uniform.

 I suspect you'll find just about any kind of knife you're interested in at the show.

We are also running a great raffle with prizes over $1000.  Second price is a ZT 350STTS AND a Benchmade 531 Pardue AXIS.  I sell Benchmade and I can't get this one!

Here's the raffle flyer and I hope to see you there!!!

If i win first prize, I'll offer to trade with the second prize winner!!